However, she would never have imagined that Lu Yin would bring Hai Qiqi to the Starfall Sea.
Hong Ying had been severely injured in the battle and was currently recuperating.
She had originally planned to search for the people from Astral-3 after her treatment to wash away her humiliation. However, Madam Red had ordered her to head to the Grayweed Continent in the Starfall Sea and assist the Tong family in capturing all of the Fifth Mainland's cultivators.
Hong Ying could only obey, as she had no chance to take revenge.
On the seaweed at the entrance to the Starfall Sea, all of the miners remained motionless on their spacecraft until the coating was completed. Only then did they head towards the Starfall Sea.
This was Lu Yin's second time here, and he had never expected to return in such a manner. However, the circumstances were similar.
The first time, they had been chased by Feng Mo and had been forced to participate in the Sea King's son-in-law selection. This time, they had disguised themselves as miners to avoid the Sixth Mainland's pursuit.
This place wouldn't be bad for him, right? Every time he came here, he would be chased.
Hai Qiqi wasn't too far from Lu Yin, and she missed the outside world, but she couldn't leave.
At that moment, an alarm sounded from the spacecraft, and most of the miners were terrified, not knowing what was happening.
Lu Yin knew that the ocean currents were coming.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for the spacecraft to sway up and down, and the miners around them grabbed onto their belongings tightly. This was the first time most of them had experienced an ocean current, and they were filled with fear of the unknown.
Soon enough, the ocean currents passed, and the spacecraft returned to normal.
There were some planets in the Starfall Sea that acted as coatings for the spacecraft, isolating them from the ocean. However, every time an ocean current appeared, it required a powerhouse with a power level of 300,000 or above to resist it.
Now, after the battle between the Progenitors, the weather had changed greatly, and everyone's power levels had been suppressed below 200,000. How were these planets able to resist the ocean currents? Or had they all collapsed?
Hai Qiqi thought of this as well, and her face paled.
She had been born in the Starfall Sea, and she often visited some of the planets here. Everything here was like home to her.
"Don't think too much. The Sea King's Dome has a high status in the Starfall Sea, so it'll be fine," Lu Yin consoled her.
Hai Qiqi nodded and waited nervously.
The Sixth Mainland did not forbid the miners from speaking to each other, but they did not care. In their eyes, the miners were not completely criminals, but they were still lowly people. They hoped that all of the cultivators from the Fifth Mainland would betray them and surrender to them, but they also looked down on those who had surrendered. Thus, they would avoid contact with the miners if they could, which gave Lu Yin and the others some space to speak.
He asked many miners, wanting to know where they would be arranged to mine in the Starfall Sea, but none of them knew.
Lu Yin had also inquired about the situation in the various regions of the Innerverse, but the results were not ideal. At least in the eyes of these miners, the entire universe belonged to the cultivators of the Sixth Mainland, even though they did not know the exact situation of the Sixth Mainland.
The Hall of Honor and the various great powers of the Innerverse had not publicized the existence of the Sixth Mainland, and they had only said that it was an invader. People like Alfonso had only known about the Sixth Mainland because the Sixth Mainland itself had publicized it.
Although they did not know much about the Sixth Mainland, the cultivators of the Innerverse knew that the Sixth Mainland was completely different from them. Once the imprint appeared, the Innerverse cultivators would view the Sixth Mainland's cultivators as a different race, just like how the Innerverse cultivators were viewed as natives by the Sixth Mainland.
Most of these miners came from the vicinity of the Starfall Sea, as the universe was too vast. Even the Starfall Sea's surroundings did not seem that big, but there were still more than a hundred million cultivators who had been captured. These cultivators had all been scattered to help the Sixth Mainland mine resources and hand in battle techniques.
Lu Yin had snuck in right after these miners had handed in their battle techniques. He had to admit that his luck was pretty good; otherwise, he might not have been able to hide Hai Qiqi's identity as a woman.
After chatting for a while, Lu Yin did not ask any more questions. He was afraid that he would attract the attention of the Sixth Mainland's cultivators, and there was nothing worth asking about these miners. They were already salted fish, and even if he hijacked this spacecraft, they would not help him.
Without his gadget to check the time, Lu Yin did not know how much time had passed. Perhaps it had been more than ten days. The spacecraft shuddered and stopped, and they were chased away. They had arrived at their destination.
Hai Qiqi's face paled.
Lu Yin was puzzled. "What's wrong?"
Hai Qiqi whispered, "This is the Sea King's Dome."
Lu Yin was stunned. "Are you sure?"
Hai Qiqi's eyes were filled with apprehension and fear as she followed the group of miners down the spacecraft.
As soon as he stepped out, a familiar scene appeared before his eyes. Lu Yin was shocked; this was indeed the Sea King's Dome.
He was quite familiar with the Sea King's Dome, and he had not forgotten the shock he had felt when he had first seen it. He still remembered the conical mountain, the sunlight that had illuminated it, the waterfall that had cascaded down, and the greenery that had dotted the mountain range.
The space behind the mountain had rippled, and the sound of a drum had echoed through the void. It had made him feel as if he was facing a divine mountain, and it had been filled with majesty.
What had left the deepest impression on him was the number of rune lines that the Sea King's Dome possessed. They were so dazzling that he did not dare to look at them.
But now, the Sea King's Dome in front of him had completely changed. The mountain had been split in two, the waterfall had stopped flowing, and the sunlight had disappeared. The entire Sea King's Dome had become dusky, and it looked more like hell than anything else. Flames were rising from all over the mountain range, and no one knew what was burning. The greenery that had once adorned the mountain range had withered, and the buildings, shopping malls, and auction houses were all gone.
It was a completely desolate scene.
Hai Qiqi trembled at the sight, and her eyes turned red. She was on the verge of collapsing.
Lu Yin hurriedly grabbed her hand. "Your father is fine. Don't you want to look for him?"
Hai Qiqi suddenly sobered up and lowered her head so that no one could see the tears in her eyes.
The first time she had left her hometown, she had been gone for four years. During those four years, she had spent every day searching for a way to return. No one could understand her pain, and now that she had finally returned home, her home had been reduced to such a state. This was the first time in her life that she had suffered such a blow.
Fortunately, Lu Yin had reminded her, or else the cultivators of the Sixth Mainland would have definitely noticed.
Lu Yin's eyes filled with star energy as he looked at the Sea King's Dome.
The current Sea King's Dome no longer had the rune lines that had caused him so much pain in the past. Instead, it only had rune lines from the Sixth Mainland and the miners. One of them had a power level close to 200,000, and it was either a peak Hunter or an Enlighter who had suppressed their power level.
"Is there any ore in the Sea King's Dome that needs to be mined?" Lu Yin brought Hai Qiqi along with him as they walked along the stream of people.
Hai Qiqi's body trembled, and she lamented, "Sea King's Glass is an extremely rare ore that my father discovered. It's very hard, and although it can't be fused with other ores, it can be used to forge weapons and armor. Its defensive power is very high, and many of the experts of the Sea King's Dome use Sea King's Glass weapons. It's said that it can withstand a power level of 500,000."
Lu Yin's eyes lit up. This was a good item! He was lacking materials that could withstand extremely high power levels. Sea King's Glass?
It was no wonder why the Sixth Mainland needed miners like them to mine it.
As for whether it could be fused with other ores, Lu Yin did not care. He had never needed to think about how to make his weapons and armor. As long as he could create something that looked like it, everything else would be left to the die's Enhance.
"Can ordinary miners mine Sea King's Glass?" Lu Yin asked curiously.
Hai Qiqi looked up at the tall mountain. "The Sea King's Glass is hidden within ordinary stones, and it's not a complete piece. As long as the surface of the stone is peeled off, any ordinary cultivator can do it."
Lu Yin nodded and looked at the tall mountain. It seemed that the Sea King's Glass was hidden within this mountain.
The Sea King's Dome had been completely destroyed, and nothing could be seen of what it had once been. In the distance, a giant statue had been erected. It was not of Madam Red, but rather of an old man. If Lu Yin's guess was correct, this old man should be the Tong family's ancestor, the Cosmic Imprinter.
The Starfall Sea was now completely under the Tong family's control.
Not long after, Lu Yin and the others entered the tall mountain.
Hai Qiqi suddenly paused, and tears flowed down her cheeks uncontrollably.
Lu Yin hurriedly pulled her into his embrace and looked up in a certain direction. His expression changed.
In the distance, there were many corpses hanging on the beach. He did not know how long they had been there, but some of them had already dried up. Lu Yin swept his gaze over them, but he did not recognize any of them. However, he felt like he had seen one of them before. He pondered for a moment and recalled that when he had left the Sea King's Dome with Hai Qiqi, an old man had appeared. The old man had praised Lu Yin and hoped that Lu Yin would be able to go against the flow in the future.
"Qiqi, that old man?" Lu Yin could not help but ask.
Hai Qiqi lowered her head, and her eyes were red. She ignored Lu Yin and continued to walk forward numbly.
Lu Yin sighed and did not say anything else.
Soon enough, the group of miners arrived at the mountain. There was no one to watch over them, and they could mine as they pleased. However, they had to mine a certain amount before they could be free. It was said that a spacecraft would only take the free cultivators away once every six months.
Hai Qiqi did not say anything and continued to mine the ore numbly. She peeled off the rocks and searched for the Sea King's Glass.
Lu Yin stood guard beside Hai Qiqi to prevent her from losing control of her emotions.
Lu Yin held a piece of dark green Sea King's Glass in his hand. It was only the size of a thumb, but in this region, this was already considered top-notch. It had taken him an entire day to dig up a single piece.
He squeezed it with all his might, but there was not even a crack. He was well aware of his strength, and if he had faced a normal Hunter, that person would have been crushed to death. However, this piece of Sea King's Glass did not react at all.
He did not know how this thing melted, but it was probably similar to the materials that he had given to Ban Jiu, which required an extremely high temperature.
For two full days, Hai Qiqi did not say anything and continued to mine numbly. She managed to mine three pieces of Sea King's Glass.
Lu Yin also managed to mine four pieces.
These miners needed to mine over a thousand pieces before they could be free. On average, they could mine one piece per day, which meant that it would take them more than three years. To cultivators, this was not a long time.
This mountain was too large, and even if the amount of Sea King's Glass produced was low, the entire mountain would still be enough to form a small mountain. Who knew how many weapons and armor could be made from this much material? If they could equip an entire army, then they would be practically invincible.
Lu Yin's eyes blazed, and he wondered if the Sea King's Dome had once had an army equipped with Sea King's Glass.
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Christmas Eve has been updated, and Windborne is still on a business trip. I've done my best!
I wish my brothers a safe and healthy life!
Thank you for your support!